The Light fills the vessels or desires in reverse order (according to the law of reverse correspondence). The Light needs to correspond to the desire, meaning the deeper the desire and the stronger the screen or intention on it, the more powerful the Light that it attracts.

However, this Light does not necessarily clothe into the same desire that attracted it. First, the Light enters the thinnest vessels (desires), which is exactly the opposite of the desire for which it was meant. This causes all the confusion in this world and the mysteries of the Upper Governance.

At the expense of great effort and suffering, meaning by working with the strongest desires, a person acquires a sharper mind and a more refined perception or sensitivity. We see how after going through many blows on our crudest desires, right “on the flesh,” we suddenly begin to feel some new way of thinking within us, on higher degrees.

This is how the law of reverse correspondence of Light and desire works (Erech Afuch Orot Ve Kelim). I receive a blow on my egoism, realization of evil, and from the suffering of this crude and primitive ego, I suddenly begin to better understand spirituality, the Creator. It would seem, what does one thing have to do with the other?
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/10, Beit Shaar HaKavanot

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The Book of Zohar — Selections, Chapter “Mi Barah Eleh (Who Created These),” Lesson 2
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Talmud Eser Sefirot 3, Part 8, Item 4, Lesson 4
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Baal HaSulam, “Beit Shaar HaKavanot,” Item 68
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Introduction to The Book of Zohar
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A person thinks that he has to independently overcome his ego, advance toward spirituality, and aim himself toward “Israel, the Torah, and the Creator are one.” This, however, isn’t so!

In our world, we are always waiting for a small child to complete an action independently by either following our example or thinking of something on his own, such as building something out of blocks.

In spirituality, we are developing on a degree that is above the physical world. There, we must obtain a second nature, while in the physical world all we have to do is advance, learn about what is already within us, and realize what is ahead. This is because everything already exists in its final state; the entire reality is disclosed.

We have to somehow “grab on” to spirituality, begin sensing, seeing, and revealing it. For now the spiritual world is unclear to us.

We have to understand one very simple notion which happens to be extremely difficult to implement: When we speak about overcoming, aspiration, attaining the goal, revealing the Creator, and our efforts, all of these things must be in our plea to the Creator in order for them to be heard. We can’t do anything except correctly ask the Creator.

For now we haven’t reached the point of realizing that “there is none else besides Him,” that He is in charge of all actions, and that we are simply the objects of these actions. We can only raise MAN (Mayin Nukvin – “female waters”) so that the Creator will carry out these actions.

We’re still relating to spirituality in the same way that we relate to this world, where we feel we can do things with “our own hands.” We scatter our efforts in different directions instead of appealing to the Creator.

If we aren’t formulating an inner plea to the Creator, then we aren’t aspiring toward bestowal. After all, it’s quite evident that we aren’t capable of bestowing on our own. This is why we have to appeal to the Creator. The group can’t correctly realize and explain to each person what action we must all make together.

It is said: “The sons of Israel cried from this work.” They wanted to build the beautiful cities of Pithom and Ramses themselves. After building them, they saw that everything was consumed by their egoistic desire to receive pleasure. That’s when they called out to the Creator so that He would make changes.

In other words, we’re only expecting it to happen. But the executing force that will change us will come only if we ask it to come. We can hear these things hundreds, even thousands of times, but only the Upper Light can give us the ability to perceive them.

However, the group’s opinion can bring us closer to this. If each person will constantly try to remind himself and even force himself to think that we have to unite in our plea to the Creator, then this is considered to be everyone’s effort. It is the prayer of the many (Tefilat Rabim) that will open the path to spirituality.
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From Preparation to the Lesson, 11/19/10

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From ancient times and almost to our present day, the Kabbalists walked parallel to philosophic thought, until its flame died out. Throughout all our history we have been propelled by our growing will to enjoy which pushes every new generation to accomplish increasingly greater deeds in the field of the ego. By actualizing our desires, we utilize our sound egoistic reason in order to acquire, amass, capture, develop, and so on.

But today egoistic development has come to an end; the time has come for correction. The ego in our world has exhausted itself, having been revealed to its full measure as was needed.

Now, looking at the world enclosed in this “wrapper,” we cannot find anything else with which to fill our lives. And when this renewal ceases and there is nothing else to enjoy, man finds himself in trouble.

This is the present situation in the world. What direction do we develop in? Should we fly to Mars or at least to the Moon? What for? Submerge to the ocean floor? What for? Look for species unknown to science? What for?

These days we don’t need anything anymore. The egoistic desire has been fully manifested, and no new whims or aspirations emerge in us. The game is over. This signals the end of philosophy and, in general, the end of the entire rational consumer approach which calls for us to use our reason so as to fulfill our desires. The desires fade, and the mind, which is their direct consequence surrenders its position.

Soon we will see humanity grow increasingly dumb. Looking at it from the standpoint of Kabbalah, it will be downright shocking to see what people are saying, what they’re writing, what TV shows they’re watching. We will come to a point when people will turn into little kids, playing “games” the likes of which would have been considered demented 50 to100 years ago.

This is why philosophy is dying out. Over the past several decades it has been desperately trying to save itself, having been left on the roadside of history. It is no longer being taken seriously since our supply of desires has run out.

We’re no longer seeking any great achievements. Hence, we don’t need human reason, and so the majority are quite happy limiting themselves to the level of the animal one. The cycle is complete and now we must give a faithful account of the “work completed.”

So, while the philosophers were “on top,” the Kabbalists kept quiet, waiting for the egoistic development to conclude. And now that it has, we find ourselves at a breaking point: With the old behind us, we must now reveal the next stage.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/24/10, The Zohar, Introduction, “The Night of the Bride”

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Someone once calculated that there are 3,800 different religions and beliefs in the world, but all of them circulate around two notions: body and soul. Indeed, if we did not perceive anything besides the beastly body, we would exist like animals. It seems to us that we have a soul, some kind of life “beyond the body.” A person wants to know what is the purpose of my life? Why do I live?

Even though we are given these aspirations and questions in order to search for answers within the system of laws of nature, we turn them into mysticism, groundless assumptions, and take them as the foundation for our view of the purpose of life, its end “here” and continuation “there.”

The question of whether our life will end bothers us. This is because we perceive time, and we are not attached to one given moment, as are animals. We think about the future, and we want to know what will happen a moment from now. However, the questions of “What do I live for, and what will happen after I die?” are already above nature.

This is why humanity has invented beliefs and religions: It has to compensate the lack of knowledge or facts with faith, meaning assumptions without proof. We are not even aware of it, but this works on all the levels, in the smallest things, every moment, every step of the way, in every direction and level of life.

I complete every lack of facts with faith, and I think that this is exactly how it is going to be. Sometimes, it happens, and sometimes, it does not. This is how our life passes.

In every particle of our existence, in every part of time, movement, space, and existence of reality, there is an enormous unknown share, namely:
1) The cause, which descends from Above,
2) the consequence, determined from Above, and
3) we, determined by cause and consequence in a narrow gap of the perception of life.

This is why we are obligated to compensate all the unknown with faith. People believe that there is an Upper Force, “a spirit,” which turns into everything that exists, gives it life, and determines destiny. That is, the essence of matter is determined by the “soul” which gives it life.

This is because our egoism wants to think that it belongs to eternity. There is no proof of this, but it benefits us to think this way. The organism’s defense mechanism does not allow us to agree that things can be different.

Otherwise, this life would be impossible. If a person did not feel eternal, if he absolutely felt that his life is finite, he would not be able to live. Imagine that you are told the exact date of your death. This puts a cross on your entire life beginning with today. This is because, from then on, you will continue living with the precise comprehension of your imminent death. A person is not capable of living like this.

The most natural sensation given to us by nature is that a soul, which somehow lived before our birth and will continue to live after our death, robes in our body, and the main reward and punishment is in the future world, and not here. We await our reward for all our current work.

A person does not even need to be taught this. He will think this, regardless. We are not able to part with these illusions, the same way as we are unable to part with our egoism until we rise to the world of truth, not after the death of the body, but after the death of egoism.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/10, “Body and Soul”

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It is impossible to imagine how we would live if we saw ourselves as mere animals. However, humanity has religion (faith) which helps it to curb its egoism somewhat. All these belief systems are based on one idea: the existence of life after death.

But the wisdom of Kabbalah thinks otherwise. It states that there is a state called “death,” in which we exist presently, and there is a different state called “life.”

If so, then it follows that I exist in this world only once, and nothing remains after I die? But what can come back? What do you have that can be brought back? The body dies and loses the force that forced it to move, like an engine that worked before and suddenly stopped. Where did this force go? Do you think that it returned somewhere Above, to “its original place?” No, the molecules just stopped working. Was there anything spiritual in them?

How is it that we suddenly have such fantasies? Yet, the whole world lives with this belief. At least, there is some consolation that there will be something after death as well.

Then, why do Kabbalistic books state that if we don’t correct ourselves during this lifetime, we will return to this world again and continue to reincarnate this way? This is really so; we just need to figure out what this means.

In Kabbalah, faith is attainment. It means seeing and feeling the spiritual world, as it is written: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” I “sample” Him with all my senses in such a way that I feel Him in “all fibers of by body.” This isn’t faith; it is the most real sensation that can possibly be.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/10, “Body and Soul”

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Question: If there is no life after death, then why is it written in The Zohar that the soul rises to heaven after death, and angels take it to its judgment, and so on?

Answer: Not a single word of The Zohar talks about the physical body. The Zohar refers to the death of egoism, after which the Upper Forces called “angels” begin to influence it.

They take my desire to receive pleasure from two sides, the right and the left, and lift it “on their wings” (screens) to the first, second, and third “heavens.” This is the name for the different levels of Bina where I increasingly begin to receive more properties of bestowal.

Thus, these “angels” lift me to the “sky,” the common property of Bina. There, I reveal an entire Creator’s palace behind this property. Bina includes the properties of Malchut within it, the receiving desires within the bestowing desires, and thanks to this I reveal the Creator.

However, is it really connected with my material world and the physical senses, the life and death of this animal body? Actually, I only think that it exists; it does not exist in reality.

Does anything really exist behind the image on the computer screen? These are nothing more than electrical signals, forces, and vectors that paint this image for you. In the same way, you are being drawn this three-dimensional image which you perceive as this world.

We already have laser devices which can create three-dimensional images in the air of people around us that speak among themselves. These sensations are a complete illusion. You just cannot touch them with your hand because everything is “in the air.” However, soon, it will become absolutely “real,” just like the illusion of our world.

This is exactly how we see this world although it does not exist. So what life after death can there be? The television got turned off, and that is it: You did not have the desire to reveal the Upper World “in this life.” However, there is no need for the body to die in order to reveal spirituality. There is no connection between one and the other.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/10, “Body and Soul”

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The Zohar does not speak about the physical death. It speaks about the desire to receive pleasure which becomes corrected and attains similarity to the Creator. A regular person has not yet reached this.

When a person works in the spiritual world, he has the left and right lines (the two “angels”), between which he builds the middle line. My ego, Pharaoh, stands on the left side, and the Creator, the Light, on the right side.

I create my spiritual vessel (Kli) with a screen to the extent of my ability to transfer this desire to receive pleasure to the middle line and attract the Light from the right line, the intention, toward it.

The screen is the intention to bestow, while the vessel is the desire within it. In this way, I build myself with these two forces, and I am the third one. Then, I begin to exist in a spiritual reality. Once I have built this “third one,” the desire with the intention, it means that I have acquired a soul.

However, if I did not build it from these two forces, then I do not have anything except for one point where I do not feel anything. This is merely a tiny desire which does not depend on me at all, “a desire out of nothing” (Mi Ain).

It is written in The Zohar that you need to kill your egoistic desire. You attract the Light toward it, kill it, and bring it to the intention to bestow. This will be you, a living you.

All of this can be done with the help of the proper environment which is called “the Holy Society” (Hevra Kedusha) because it helps you bury your egoism. This way, you receive an eternal soul, a part that is similar to the Creator.

You make it yourself, and if not, you do not have a soul. You exist below the life line, in this world, where you have nothing but an animate body, matter (Homer, substance, is consonant to Hamor, donkey). This is the most “materialistic” approach.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/25/10, “Body and Soul”

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In the article “Body and Soul” Baal HaSulam explains that we live in one world, but it split into two parts in regard to each of us: an apparent one and a hidden one. Throughout history, we became better and better acquainted with our world, we revealed new continents, examined inanimate nature, flora, fauna, and cosmic space. Reality spread out broader and broader before our eyes.

Kabbalists say that this is not the limit. We just need new aspirations, an aim at bestowal – then the diapason, the range, of our qualities and feelings will become broader, and we will begin to perceive in them the reality that is currently invisible to us.

Today an inner impulse, a need to discover the hidden reality, is awakening in many people. Before, egoism constantly pushed people to explore our world in order to seek out new pleasures, the abundance in various forms, in it. And now, having exhausted all other opportunities, we wish to reveal the hidden reality.

In order to help us in this, Kabbalists wrote books. The main book, with the help of which we can find what has been concealed, is The Book of Zohar. While reading it, we need to pay less attention to the text itself since we still don’t understand what it is about. Instead, we should aspire more to what this book can give us.

The Zohar brings us revelation of “a new earth and a new sky.” The “earth” is the desire, and the “sky” is the degree of Bina, bestowal, on which we will see the reality of bestowal. Therefore, during the lesson we think about how to broaden our perception, to open our eyes, and to allow the still hidden part of one world to enter our sensations.

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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/10, “Body and Soul”

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Writings of Rabash, Dargot HaSulam “The Virtue of the Little One”
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